The Washington Secretary of State’s Office is making a new effort to track and address misinformation about voting and elections. It recently hired the British company Logically to scan social media sites for misleading narratives that could threaten election integrity, as well as physical threats to staff, and generate biweekly reports on its findings. The move led to backlash from the state Republican Party, which called the effort “unethical” and “tyranny.” A similar contract between the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office and Logically also received backlash from the Oregon GOP and Republican state lawmakers.

Jim Brunner is following these issues as a political reporter at The Seattle Times. He joins us with more details.